I Choose You 3 : The Matrimony

by Diamond Johnson

“Yeah take you ass home and where the fuck is my daughter?” I asked her.

  “With my mother, jackass!” she barked.

  “Get fucked up if you want to!” I told her, slapping her real hard on the ass.

  I stood there, and watched her walk and get inside of the car and speed off. Shit, a nigga was happy as fuck. I purposely got that ass pregnant. Two done, three more to go!

  Chapter 23: Ka’lani

  Everybody was here at my house, enjoying a little get together. We were all having a good time. Even my sister and my dad were over too. My mom was keeping Aaliyah with her for the weekend. I was standing at the counter as Symone, Tisha, Kyla, and Tamika sat on the stools. All of us had a cup with liquor in it, except for Tamika, so I think something was up with her because she was always the first one to start drinking. If it wasn’t Tisha getting sloppy drunk, it was her ass. The men walked inside the house from the backyard, my husband carrying the tray of ribs that were just on the grill. Pat walked in and looked at Tamika. He looked at the cup that was in front of her and walked over to her.

  “Meek, what’s in you cup?” he asked her, picking her cup up and smelling the inside of it. I don’t know what the hell his ass was searching for.

  “It’s just water Pat, damn!” she said, snatching the cup back and pushing him away from her.

  “Okay, Tamika please don’t get fucked up,” he said, kissing her hard on the cheek and following the guys back outside on the patio.

  When he walked away, I looked at Tamika, strangely.

  “Girl, why is Pat tripping? What’s up with him?” I asked, because they asses was acting weird.

  “Yeah, what’s up with Pat?” Tisha asked after me.

  “Okay, but when I tell y’all, don’t start acting all extra and shit, especially you Tisha,” Tamika said, because Tisha had a way of over exaggerating shit and making the situation worse than what it really was all cracked up to be.

  “Girl I’m not, I promise, so what happened?” Tisha asked, even though I knew her ass was lying. Tamika stared at us for a few seconds, debating on whether or not she should tell us, and then she finally started speaking.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said fast as hell.

  “Bitch what?” Tisha asked, doing exactly what she said she wouldn’t do, with her lil lying ass.

  “Tisha!” Tamika yelled, getting mad.

  “Oh my God Meek, Princess ain’t but 2 months, how you manage to pull that off?” I asked shocked. I didn’t think she was about to say some shit like that. What I honestly thought she was about to say is some shit like Pat was being over protective and wasn’t letting her drink alcohol or something, but boy, was this a shocker.

  “That’s the thing, we were supposed to wait a few more weeks, but we didn’t, so now I’m pregnant,” Tamika said. She was mad at us like we was the one that fucked her and got her ass pregnant.

  Tisha started laughing, like she had just heard the biggest joke in the damn world, with her annoying ass.

  “See Tisha, that’s why I don’t like telling your ass shit. You think everything a joke,” Tamika, said picking up her napkin and throwing it at Tisha.

  “Girl I’m just playing, with your sensitive ass,” Tisha said, wrapping her arms around Tamika and kissing her on her cheek.

  I sat there and watched they crazy asses, and couldn’t do nothing but laugh at them. After we calmed down from laughing and hearing Tamika tell us about her crazy sex story on how she managed to get pregnant again, we all congratulated her. We all had a good time. We ate, chilled, talked shit, and ate again. It was good to be with everybody, together again.

  Epilogue:

  Tisha

  I couldn’t believe that today was my big day. I waited all my life for this moment and it was finally coming true. Today I was marrying my best friend, my lover, and most importantly, my soul mate. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Otis and I have come a very long way. Though many have tried to break us apart, we still remained with each other throughout the hard times. Today, we were getting married out on South Beach. It was always a dream of mine to get married out on the beach, around 7 p.m. when the sun was about to set. I felt like that would be so beautiful. I was able to look down from my hotel suite and see how nicely everything was set up outside on the beach for us. I sat there in the chair getting my make-up done, along with my 3 best friends in the world. No matter what, I would always love my Lani, Tamika, and Kyla. Those girls meant the world to me, aside from my daughter, Tamia, and Otis. I watched as Harmony and Tamia sat together on the couch playing with Tamia’s iPad. They looked so beautiful in their white dresses and their long, curly hair, pushed back with a flowery headband. The two of them were going to be my flower girls. They would walk down together, while Tamia would hold onto her little sister’s hand.

  “How do you feel, sis?” Lani asked as soon as she finished getting her hair and make-up done.

  Of course, I made Lani my maid of honor. Tamika and Kyla were my bridesmaids. They all had their hair in a side roller set, and they looked so beautiful. I decided to switch things up a little as well. I decided to give the red hair a break, and I knew Otis would feel some time of way about it. Everybody loved me with the red hair, because they said I resembled Charlie Baltimore. I dyed my hair a light brown, and I had streaks of gold in it. My hair was already long, but I did put a few extensions in to give it more body. I couldn’t believe that after all these years, I was finally letting go of the red hair. I dyed my hair red when I was in the 11th grade, and I had fallen so in love with the color that I never changed it back. I don’t think that I was going to go back to red, because I was loving this brown hair on me; it made my hazel eyes stand out even more.

  “I guess you can say that I’m nervous,” I said to her. Crazy, because I always loved to be the center of attention but for some reason, right now, I could not control my damn nerves for shit.

  “Girl don’t be. Today is your day and you look so beautiful,” Lani said, hugging me.

  The wedding was set to start at 7 p.m., and right now it was 6:30. I needed me something to calm my nerves because I felt like in any minute, I was bound to pass out.

  Otis

  Today was the day. A nigga was getting ready to marry his soul mate, my equal, my confidant, and most importantly, the love of my damn life. I knew the first day that I laid eyes on Tisha that she would be my wife, even if she didn’t know it herself. I feel like I was molded into the man that she wanted me to be. Before I got with Tisha, I’m not going to lie, a nigga was a big ass hoe. I had a different girl for every day of the week. When Tisha eventually gave me a chance, she gave me one order. She told me that if I was going to be her man, it had to be just her, meaning no cheating, no assonating with other females, no nothing. It was a hard task to do, but a nigga was more than ready to learn. I proved to my girl that she was the only one for me. I didn’t need nobody else. By her giving me that one rule, she made me more mature. She made me realize that having that one special girl would outweigh all the other hoes out here. Coming home to my girl and my kids were the best thing, and I would take that over coming home to a new and different shot of pussy any day.

  “Nigga you ready?” Ty asked, walking up to me.

  “Nigga I been ready,” I told him.

  I was dressed in a three-piece suit with a red bow tie on. I was killing the fuckin game in my Christian Louboutin dress shoes as well. I knew Tisha was going to go crazy when she seen a nigga. I did something new with my hair as well. Instead of the low cut that I always wore. A nigga always had good hair, so I chose to let my curly hair grow and now it was cut with a fade with my curly hair on top in an afro. I must admit that I was that nigga, indeed. I was literally a walking check right now in this bitch with all this damn jewelry on.

  At exactly 6:45, we made our way down to the beach area, where our wedding would be taking place. Leave it to my bourgeois ass wife to want to get married on the damn beach while the sun was about to set. I swear, her littl
e prissy ass would fit right in with them damn Kardashian sisters. I took pictures with my groomsmen and by the time we started, it was time to start the wedding. All the guests sat in attendance waiting for the wedding to begin. I had to admit that the wedding planners that Tisha hired did the damn thing with these decorations. The color scheme was red and ivory. I hadn’t even seen Tisha, but I couldn’t wait to see her fine ass walk down that aisle.

  At exactly 7:01, the wedding was starting. Brian McKnight stood off to the side singing Love of my Life. I knew Tisha was going to lose it when she seen him there. I was able to talk to Pat and Cevon, and they pulled some strings, and a nigga had Brian McKnight singing at my damn wedding.

  In walked the best man, which was Ty, and the maid of honor, Lani. Next was Tamika and Pat, then Cevon and Kyla. Next, my two daughters walked in, and they looked so beautiful. Tamia was holding Harmony’s hand while they walked down the aisle and dropped rose petals. Everyone stood, and I looked up and got to see my beautiful wife walking down the aisle. I tried to control myself, but I couldn’t. A nigga started howling at her fine ass, and I had everybody in there dying laughing. Tisha’s ass was too busy crying that she wasn’t even laughing. I already knew her crybaby ass was gon’ start crying. Being as though Tisha didn’t have her dad to walk her down, she was able to get Ka’lani’s dad, Phillip, to walk her down. I thought that was perfect, because they had gotten close and she even calls him daddy Phillip.

  “You look beautiful as hell baby,” I said to Tisha, noticing she changed her red hair. Damn, my baby wasn’t on her Charlie Baltimore shit anymore; she was more on her Beyoncé shit right now.

  “Thank you baby, you look handsome too,” she said through tears.

  The pastor began, “We are gathered here today to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Into this day, these two come now to be joined. Please hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.”

  I took Tisha by her hand, and she was trembling. I gave her a look, letting her know to relax.

  “Otis Jackson, with this understanding, do you take Latisha Jackson, to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others and to be faithful only to her, so long as you both shall live?” the pastor asked me.

  “I do,” I said, not even having to think about it.

  “Latisha Jackson, with this understanding, do you take Otis Jackson, to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him comfort him, honor and keep him, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others and to be faithful only to him, so long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” Tisha said, still crying.

  “May I have the rings please?” the pastor asked, and that’s when Ty passed the pastor our rings.

  “Otis Jackson, as you place this ring on her finger, repeat these words after me. This ring, a gift for you, symbolizes my desire that you be my wife from this day forward. As this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you.”

  I then repeated it. He read out the same thing for Tisha, and she repeated it as well.

  “Otis Jackson and Tisha Jackson, you have consented together in holy matrimony before God, have pledged your vows to each other, and have exchanged rings as tokens of your life and commitment to each other. In accordance with the authority of God’s word and with great joy, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride,” the pastor said.

  “Come kiss daddy,” I said, pulling my wife to me. I tongued my wife down right there in front of everybody.

  The crowd was screaming, and I heard Ka’lani scream out, “That’s my girl! Get your man Tisha!” She had everybody in the crowd dying laughing at her funny ass. I remember going to Ka’lani’s and Tyrone’s wedding, and Tisha did Ka’lani the same way. Those two girls were a damn trip.

  “I love you baby,” I said to my wife.

  “I love you too,” she said back.

  Tisha

  Here we were at our reception, and I have to admit that today has got to be one of the best days of my life. Our wedding turned out perfect. Our reception was takin place in the hall at the hotel that we were staying at, which was absolutely beautiful. The whole hall was decorated with white and red decorations. Everyone in attendance sat together at rounded tables, sitting ten guests per table. I looked around and everybody was eating, laughing, taking pictures, and just having a plain ol’ good time. There was an open bar too, so the guests were going crazy for the wine and champagne. Otis and I sat on stage in two chairs that were fit for a queen and a king. I felt like a superstar as everybody kept asking to take pictures with me. I even invited Akira to the wedding and surprisingly, she came. I respected that woman to the fullest, because she never came out of the side of her neck, and she never did any funny shit when it came down to Otis. Akira wasn’t worried about my husband because she had a man of her own, who she brought along with her to the wedding. I never brought up to Otis about the whole Marshae situation, even though I knew he had killed her or something, because that night that he left out while I was sleep, I woke up the next morning and I found his dirty clothes in the hamper, and I was able to see the specks of blood on his clothes and his boots. The reason why I knew he handled it is because the phone calls all of a sudden stopped, so that basically gave it away. I wasn’t going to ask him how he killed her, because all I cared about was the fact that she was dead this time.

  After we ate, it was time for the best part, the dancing. All of a sudden, the DJ started playing John Legend’s song, So High. I wrapped my arms around Otis’ ass, and he kept a strong ass grip on my ass. What started out a slow dancing, which turned into us separating and singing the words to each other as soon as the beat dropped. I felt like AJ green and his wife, how they sang this same song to each at their wedding reception.

  Let's go to a place only lovers go

  To a spot that we've never known

  To the top of the clouds we're floating away yeah

  Ooh this feels so crazy

  Oh this love is blazing

  And baby we're so high

  Walking on cloud 9

  Everybody was hooting and hollering, while recording us. I’m pretty sure that we would be somewhere on YouTube by the end of the night. We sang those words to each other from the depths of our soul. Ask me how I felt about Otis, and this song explained just that. I was walking on cloud nine with this man. My life with him has been nothing but a roller coaster since I’ve met him, but I was able to ride the wave and see the good in him. God knows, I didn’t want or need anybody else in my life but my Otis.

  After the song went off, Otis kissed me on the cheek and told me that he would be right back. I stood there and a minute later, he was walking towards me with a chair, and sat it in the middle of the dance floor. He then held my hand and walked me down, and I had to mentally prepare myself for whatever it was that my husband was about to do. All of a sudden, the DJ started playing R Kelly’s Honey Love, and my husband removed his tux jacket. Everybody started screaming, because they knew that his ass was about to put on a show. After sitting his tux jacket on the nearby table, he made his way up under my dress with his head, trying to remove the garter that was on my right knee. The whole while, he made passionate kisses up my thighs, and I tried not to moan out load because his lips were feeling so good. Of course, Otis had to be extra and stay there a little while longer, and I swear I felt like I was about to have an orgasm, so I tried to move his head, but he wasn’t letting me.

  Your love is like a lollipop, you're

  so sweet and

  your body's like a lemon drop

  Sure taste good to me

  So let's lay down and get close till

  we become one

  And I promise you baby oooooh

  we gonna have fun, all night

  “Oti
s stop, you’re embarrassing me,” I yelled over the music, my face flushed from embarrassment because this man was trying to remove the panties that I was wearing as well. He pulled the garter off with his teeth and when he came up, I playfully slapped him upside his head, which caused everyone in the room to burst out into laughter. After that, the DJ played Keyshia Cole’s I Choose You, and my husband and I danced together as I song in his ear.

  “If it ain't you, it's not worth it

  No matter what I do, nothing's working

  Baby I know love's not perfect

  Even if he gives me the world it'll never be enough

  Cause I choose you

  I choose you

  And if it ain't you

  Then it's just not worth it.”

  That song pretty much wrapped up all the things that Otis and I had been through. In the midst of having to deal with outside bitches, losing my baby, and having to raise another daughter that wasn’t mine, I still chose this man. I still chose to spend the rest of my life with him, despite his flaws and all. This past year was tough for me, the toughest being me having to endure moving on with my life while I suffered from losing my baby. It took some time, but I was able to come to terms that maybe it was God’s plan, and I wasn’t about to start questioning God for what happened to me. I would forever stay in constant conversation with my lost child, and I would always love them. Otis didn’t even know it, but my ass was knocked up right now, as we speak. I planned on telling him that tomorrow though, after we made it to Jamaica. Yes! My baby and I were going to Jamaica for our honeymoon and I couldn’t wait.

  “All the things we’ve been through baby, I still choose you and I love you so much, Mr. Otis Jackson,” I told my husband, meaning every single word.

  “I love you too, Mrs. Latisha Jackson, and I still choose you too, always have and always will,” he said, placing a kiss on my lips as we danced the night away.